St. John's University Athletics
Friday, May 10
Omaha, Neb. (TD Ameritrade Park Omaha)
7:30 p.m.
St. John's University
at
Creighton
St. John’s Heads to Omaha for Crucial Series with Creighton
5/9/2019 11:59:00 AM | Baseball
Red Storm will look to secure critical BIG EAST wins in penultimate regular season series
QUEENS, N.Y. (May 9, 2019) – The St. John's baseball team will travel to Omaha this weekend for a crucial three-game set with league-leading Creighton at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha, the home of the College World Series. First pitch on Friday and Saturday is set for 7:30 p.m. ET while Sunday's series finale will commence at 1 p.m. ET.
The Red Storm (26-19, 5-7 BIG EAST) will look to get back in the win column in BIG EAST play after being swept by Georgetown in the team's last conference series two weeks ago. The setback at the hands of the Hoyas marked the first time since 2013 that the Red Storm had lost three straight at the hands of a BIG EAST foe. The Hoyas are the now the only member of the BIG EAST conference to sweep St. John's in a three-game series since the league began sponsoring baseball in 1985.
The Johnnies wrapped up the midweek portion of their regular season schedule on Tuesday night, improving to 15-1 at home against non-conference foes with a 6-5 win over Wagner. Trailing by four after five and a half innings of play, the Johnnies struck twice in the sixth before putting up a three-spot in the seventh, completing the comeback and securing a victory on Senior Night. Mike Antico led the way offensively, reaching base in all five of his plate appearances by going 3-for-3 with two walks. The junior outfielder fell a home run shy of the cycle.
Antico has been a bright spot for the Johnnies batting order over the past two months. Hitting just .152 following the Red Storm's Northeast opener on March 13, Antico is batting at a .412 clip over his last 31 games with an OPS of 1.178. The Colts Neck, N.J., native has 15 multi-hit games over that stretch, including a pair of four-hit outings. On the campaign, Antico is now hitting .355 with an OPS of 1.031 and 17 stolen bases, the highest single-season total by a St. John's player since 2012 when Jeremy Baltz swiped 18 bags and Matt Wessinger tallied 32 steals. Hitting .417 in BIG EAST play, Antico currently ranks second in the league among batters with at least 20 at-bats, trailing only Creighton's Jake Holton (.477).
The Red Storm's hottest pitcher of late, Nick Mondak will enter the weekend rotation in Omaha. Slated to start on Sunday, Mondak has allowed just one run in his last 13 innings of work, striking out 16 and walking only two over that stretch. The junior lefthander from Watertown, Conn., put forth the best effort of his career on April 30 against Iona, punching out 10 in six innings of scoreless, two-hit work to pick up his first collegiate win. Entering the weekend, Mondak has made eight appearances, seven of which have been starts, in a career plagued by injury.
Creighton (29-10) enters this weekend's series on top of the BIG EAST standings, winning nine of its 12 conference matchups so far this season. The Bluejays and the Red Storm both played their last BIG EAST series against Georgetown in Bethesda, Md.; Creighton came away with the sweep while St. John's came out on the wrong end of all three contests.
The Bluejays are hitting .284 as a team, led by Holton with a .405 batting average. Four other everyday starters are hitting .293 or better on the season.
Holton and highly touted prospect Will Robertson have each belted 10 of the Bluejays' 45 home runs. Creighton has 93 doubles in just 39 games this year, good enough for a 2.38 per game average that ranks fourth nationally. Five Bluejays have 10 or more doubles on the year, led by Robertson's 16.
Creighton has also been outstanding defensively with a .979 team fielding percentage that ranks 17th in Division I.
Creighton and St. John's have played 18 times since the Bluejays joined the BIG EAST for the 2014 season. The Red Storm holds a slight 10-8 advantage in those matchups.
Last season, the Red Storm came out victorious in all three of its meeting with Creighton, including a 4-3 walk-off victory in the series finale. The Johnnies trailed 3-0 entering the bottom of the ninth in that contest before Brandon Miller and Josh Shaw each tallied two-run singles in the decisive frame.
St. John's is 5-3 all-time against Creighton at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha, including a pair of wins en route to the program's eighth BIG EAST title in 2015.
The Red Storm (26-19, 5-7 BIG EAST) will look to get back in the win column in BIG EAST play after being swept by Georgetown in the team's last conference series two weeks ago. The setback at the hands of the Hoyas marked the first time since 2013 that the Red Storm had lost three straight at the hands of a BIG EAST foe. The Hoyas are the now the only member of the BIG EAST conference to sweep St. John's in a three-game series since the league began sponsoring baseball in 1985.
The Johnnies wrapped up the midweek portion of their regular season schedule on Tuesday night, improving to 15-1 at home against non-conference foes with a 6-5 win over Wagner. Trailing by four after five and a half innings of play, the Johnnies struck twice in the sixth before putting up a three-spot in the seventh, completing the comeback and securing a victory on Senior Night. Mike Antico led the way offensively, reaching base in all five of his plate appearances by going 3-for-3 with two walks. The junior outfielder fell a home run shy of the cycle.
Antico has been a bright spot for the Johnnies batting order over the past two months. Hitting just .152 following the Red Storm's Northeast opener on March 13, Antico is batting at a .412 clip over his last 31 games with an OPS of 1.178. The Colts Neck, N.J., native has 15 multi-hit games over that stretch, including a pair of four-hit outings. On the campaign, Antico is now hitting .355 with an OPS of 1.031 and 17 stolen bases, the highest single-season total by a St. John's player since 2012 when Jeremy Baltz swiped 18 bags and Matt Wessinger tallied 32 steals. Hitting .417 in BIG EAST play, Antico currently ranks second in the league among batters with at least 20 at-bats, trailing only Creighton's Jake Holton (.477).
The Red Storm's hottest pitcher of late, Nick Mondak will enter the weekend rotation in Omaha. Slated to start on Sunday, Mondak has allowed just one run in his last 13 innings of work, striking out 16 and walking only two over that stretch. The junior lefthander from Watertown, Conn., put forth the best effort of his career on April 30 against Iona, punching out 10 in six innings of scoreless, two-hit work to pick up his first collegiate win. Entering the weekend, Mondak has made eight appearances, seven of which have been starts, in a career plagued by injury.
Creighton (29-10) enters this weekend's series on top of the BIG EAST standings, winning nine of its 12 conference matchups so far this season. The Bluejays and the Red Storm both played their last BIG EAST series against Georgetown in Bethesda, Md.; Creighton came away with the sweep while St. John's came out on the wrong end of all three contests.
The Bluejays are hitting .284 as a team, led by Holton with a .405 batting average. Four other everyday starters are hitting .293 or better on the season.
Holton and highly touted prospect Will Robertson have each belted 10 of the Bluejays' 45 home runs. Creighton has 93 doubles in just 39 games this year, good enough for a 2.38 per game average that ranks fourth nationally. Five Bluejays have 10 or more doubles on the year, led by Robertson's 16.
Creighton has also been outstanding defensively with a .979 team fielding percentage that ranks 17th in Division I.
Creighton and St. John's have played 18 times since the Bluejays joined the BIG EAST for the 2014 season. The Red Storm holds a slight 10-8 advantage in those matchups.
Last season, the Red Storm came out victorious in all three of its meeting with Creighton, including a 4-3 walk-off victory in the series finale. The Johnnies trailed 3-0 entering the bottom of the ninth in that contest before Brandon Miller and Josh Shaw each tallied two-run singles in the decisive frame.
St. John's is 5-3 all-time against Creighton at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha, including a pair of wins en route to the program's eighth BIG EAST title in 2015.
Players Mentioned
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